Losing quills?

[spikeymom]

Hi there! I am a new hedgehog owner and I've got a question. I gave Spikey (my class named him not me:) ) a foot bath tonight. He needed one after a mess that happened in his ball today. Anyway, I noticed several (about 20) quills that had fallen out when I was taking him out of his ball. Is this normal? I've never seen that many fall out before. I've only had him for about a week so I'm not really sure what is and isn't normal.

Thanks!

[hedgehogmomof2]

How old is Spikey? Hedgehogs up to about 12 weeks or so will usually lose quills due to "quilling". Quilling is when they shed their baby quills and grow adult quills. Little Miss Sophie is in the process of quilling and loses quills constantly. I'm forever picking them out of her cage liner and hedgie bags.

If he's older and still losing quills, he may have mites. That requires a trip to the vet for some stuff to get rid of the mites.

[spikeymom]

He is almost three. I looked at his skin up close and it seems dry and flakey. How much do hedgehogs scratch. He does a good bit of scratching when he is awake and it his ball. It was just wierd because that many have not fallen out before...at least not in the week I've had him.

Thanks!

[hedgehogmomof2]

I would definately suggest a trip to the vet. It *might* be a case of mites. If so, you'll have to bleach everything, in very hot water, such as cage liners, hedgie bags, etc. Do you have a good hedgehog vet? If not, check the veterinarian listings here or contact me, and I can ask some others from your area which vet they would reccommend.

[hedgehogmomof2]

I would definately suggest a trip to the vet. It *might* be a case of mites. If so, you'll have to bleach everything, in very hot water, such as cage liners, hedgie bags, etc. Do you have a good hedgehog vet? If not, check the veterinarian listings here or contact me, and I can ask some others from your area which vet they would reccommend.

The Veterinarian Listings link doesn't seem to be working, so here's the proper link to the Veterinarian Listings for you. If you'd like any feedback or reccommendations about specific vets, please let me know. I belong to another hedgehog group and they are wonderful for knowing about specific vets and reccommending specific vets.

http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/vets.shtml

Hope this helps you.

[Ododad]

The symptoms that you have listed could be caused by a case of mites. He should take a trip to the vet.

[Vampira_666]

I'd definetly take him to the vet always better to be safe rather than sorry :)